Keys to Blogging: How to Create a Blog Topic Pipeline

A blogger’s greatest challenge is maintaining an active pipeline of interesting blog topics. There is nothing worse than writer’s block or hitting “publish” on an article that you know is not your best work.

This should especially be the case for me since I have kept a very strict Monday through Friday (and sometimes more) schedule for five months now. But I don’t have this problem.

Let me share a secret with you regarding how you can easily create a long, running list of blog post ideas so that you never run out. It’s an exercise that anyone can use to break through writer’s block and open up a whole new world of content that search engines will love!

I make it a four step process, starting from broad and funneling into detailed questions. But depending on how broad you start or how detailed you want to be, you can add more or fewer steps to the exercise. Just know that the more granular your topics, the better!

So here is our Blog Topic Pipeline Pyramid:

Ready to create your blog topic pipeline? Let’s go…

1. Pick a Broad Category

This should really be the main subject matter of your blog or website. For me, I could really go one or two ways here. I could go ultra broad with Digital Marketing or I could take a step in with Facebook Marketing.

The broader you start, the more steps you should take to complete this exercise. So for the purpose of providing a workable example, I am going with Facebook Marketing.

2. Split That Category Into Three Parts

Now it’s time to break your broad topic into three sub-categories. In the case of Facebook Marketing, the three parts I chose are:

Facebook Advertising

Facebook Timeline for Pages

Facebook Strategy (When, Why, How?)

If you were to break up the broad category of “Blogging” into three parts, it could be:

Content Planning

WordPress Themes, Plugins and Tools

Search Engine Optimization

See? Piece of cake.

3. Create a List of Features Related to Those Parts

This is the step when the ideas will start to flow. This one shouldn’t be difficult. It’s basically a stream of consciousness list of everything associated with each subcategory. So let’s use my subcategories for Facebook Marketing as examples…

Facebook Advertising

Page Post Ads

Targeting at fans

Targeting at non-fans

Targeting strategies

Directing ads to custom tabs

Standard Facebook ads

Cost Per Click

Cost Per Thousand Impressions

Page Like Story

Page Post Like Story

Advertising Budgets

Advertising Apps and Tools

More…

Facebook Timeline for Pages

Cover Photo

Profile Photo

Custom Tabs

Pin to Top

Highlighting

Milestones

Dimensions

About Section

Private Messaging

More…

Facebook Strategy (When, Why, How?)

Facebook Insights

Talking About This

Status Updates

Sharing Photos

Sharing Videos

Contests

Best Practices

Time of Day

Content that Drives Engagement

Likes

Comments

EdgeRank

More…

These lists could go on forever. And really, the longer they go, the better for you!

4. Create a List of Questions Connected to Features

Okay, so now you have inspiration. Now try to come up with at least one question associated with each item listed above. This could be questions your readers are already asking, or you could anticipate those questions. Maybe you’ve solved problems you have experienced yourself. List them!

The key here is that you want to isolate as many problems and questions as possible so that you can write a blog post covering the solutions.

Let’s use Facebook Timeline as an example…

Facebook Timeline For Pages

What are the Cover Photo rules?

What are the dimensions of the Cover Photo?

How do you create a Cover Photo?

What are examples of good Cover Photos?

Should you use a logo or head shot for a Profile Photo?

What custom tabs should I create?

How do I create custom tabs?

What tools are available to create custom tabs?

How do I edit custom tab icons, and how should I approach it?

More…

You get the picture. Dozens of questions should immediately come to you. These should be the building blocks of your blog posts!

Why This Works

I guarantee that if you do this exercise, you will be a better blogger as a result. You will be more organized and focused, and you will get better SEO results. The reasons are really very simple.

Second, you are forcing yourself to remain focused. The more niche, the better. By creating a focused list, you are preventing yourself from getting distracted with a blog post that acts as unrelated filler down the road.

Third, people want answers!. As I’ve said before, do not try to solve all of life’s problems in one blog post. Keep it simple. People are searching Google for an answer to a very specific question. Broad topics won’t drive them there. Provide an exhaustive blog post on the answer they are looking for.

Finally, your quality will be vastly improved. You’ll no longer have to sit down, staring at your laptop with a blank look at midnight, trying to come up with something to write. Go off of your list, and blogging suddenly becomes easy.

Your List is Dynamic

Of course, things are constantly changing, particularly when you’re talking about Facebook. So feel free to constantly add to this list or refresh the exercise. Don’t feel like you are tied to writing blog posts that are from a list that you created two months ago. Things change!

Your Turn

This is how I create an active pipeline of blog topics. What is your exercise for coming up with a blog topic pipeline? Share it with us!

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About Jon Loomer

Jon Loomer is a digital marketing consultant with a unique perspective on social media. He was introduced to Facebook in 2007 while with the NBA (back before Pages) and has been using Facebook for business ever since. Stay in touch by liking his Facebook Page (Jon Loomer Digital).

Leehoneya

Hi,
I wonder is anyone knows if there is a Social Connector for Thunderbird in development by anyone. I did some work on outlook and saw the linkedin and facebook social media connectors in outlook that is a great idea and very useful especially for marketing professionals like me.Rotary joint